This invention relates to the field of rail road cars for carrying wheeled vehicles.
Railroad flat cars are used to transport highway trailers from one place to another in what is referred to as intermodal Trailer-on-Flat-Car (TOFC) service. TOFC service competes with intermodal container service known as Container-on-Flat-Car (COFC), and with truck trailers driven on the highway. TOFC service has been in relative decline for some years due to a number of disadvantages.
First, for distances of less than about 500 miles (800 km), TOFC service is thought to be slower and less flexible than highway operation. Second, in terms of lading per rail car, TOFC tends to be less efficient than Container-on-Flat-Car (COFC) service, and tends also to be less efficient than double-stack COFC service in which containers are carried on top of each other. Third, TOFC (and COFC) terminals tend to require significant capital outlays. Fourth, TOFC loading tends to take a relatively long time to permit rail road cars to be shunted to the right tracks, for trailers to be unloaded from incoming cars, for other trailers to be loaded, and for the rail road cars to be shunted again to make up a new train consist. Fifth, shock and other dynamic loads imparted during shunting and train operation may tend to damage the lading. It would be advantageous to improve rail road car equipment to reduce or eliminate some of these disadvantages.
As highways have become more crowded, demand for a fast TOFC service has increased. Recently, there has been an effort to reduce the loading and unloading time in TOFC service, and an effort to increase the length of TOFC trains. There are two methods for loading highway trailers on flat cars. First, they can be side-loaded with an overhead crane or side-lifting fork-lift crane. Loading with overhead cranes, or with specialized fork-lift equipment tends to occur at large yards, and tends to be capital intensive.
The second method of loading highway trailers, or other wheeled vehicles, onto rail road cars having decks for carrying vehicles, is by end-loading. End-loading, or circus loading as it is called, has two main variations. First, a string of cars can be backed up to a permanently fixed loading dock, typically a concrete structure having a deck level with the deck of the rail cars. Alternatively, a movable ramp can be placed at one end of a string of rail car units. In either case, the vehicles are driven onto the rail road cars from one end. Each vehicle can be loaded in sequence by driving (in the case of highway trailers, by driving the trailers backward) along the decks of the rail road car units. The gaps between successive rail car units are spanned by bridge plates that permit vehicles to be driven from one rail car unit to the next. Although circus loading is common for a string of cars, end-loading can be used for individual rail car units, or multiple rail car units as may be convenient.
One way to reduce shunting time, and to run a more cost effective service, is to operate a dedicated unit train of TOFC cars whose cars are only rarely uncoupled. However, as the number of units in the train increases, circus loading becomes less attractive, since a greater proportion of loading time is spent running a towing rig back and forth along an empty string of cars. It is therefore advantageous to break the unit train in several places when loading and unloading. Although multiple fixed platforms have been used, each fixed platform requires a corresponding dedicated dead-end siding to which a separate portion of train can be shunted. It is not advantageous to require a large number of dedicated parallel sidings with a relatively large fixed investment in concrete platforms.
To avoid shunting to different tracks, as required if a plurality of fixed platforms is used, it is advantageous to break a unit train of TOFC rail road cars on a single siding, so that the train can be re-assembled without switching from one track to another. For example, using a 5000 or 6000 ft siding, a train having 60 rail car units in sections of 15 units made up of three coupled five-pack articulated cars, can be split at two places, namely fifteen units from each end, permitting the sequential loading of fifteen units per section to either side of each split. Once loaded, the gaps between the splits can be closed, without shunting cars from one siding to another. Use of a single siding is made possible by moving the ramps to the split location, rather than switching strings of cars to fixed platforms.
In using movable ramps for loading, the highway trailers are typically backed onto the railcars using a special rail yard truck, called a hostler truck. Railcars can be equipped with a collapsible highway trailer kingpin stand. When the highway trailer is in the right position, the hostler truck hooks onto the collapsible stand (or hitch) and pulls it forward, thereby lifting it to a deployed (i.e., raised) and locked position. The hostler truck is then used to push the trailer back to engage the kingpin of the hitch. The landing gear of the highway trailer is lowered, and, in addition, it is cranked downward firmly against the rail road car deck as a safety measure in the event of a hitch failure or the king pin of the trailer is sheared off. Once one trailer has been loaded, the towing rig, namely the hostler truck, drives back to the end of the string, another trailer is backed into place, and the process is repeated until all of the trailers have been loaded in the successive positions on the string of railcars. Unloading involves the same process, in reverse. In some circumstances, circus loaded flat cars can be loaded with trucks, tractors, farm machinery, construction equipment or automobiles, in a similar manner, except that it is not always necessary to use a towing rig.
From time to time, the train consist may be broken up, with various highway-trailer-carrying rail road cars being disconnected, and others being joined. Bridge plates have been the source of some difficulties at the rail car ends where adjacent railroad cars are connected, given the nomenclature xe2x80x9cthe coupler endsxe2x80x9d. Traditionally, a pair of cars to be joined at a coupler would each be equipped with one bridge plate permanently mounted on a hinged connection on one side of the car, typically the left hand side. In this arrangement the axis of the hinge is horizontal and transverse to the longitudinal centerline of the rail car.
Conventionally, for loading and unloading operations, the bridge plate of each car at the respective coupled end is lowered, like a draw bridge, into a generally horizontal arrangement to mate with the adjoining car, each plate providing one side of the path so that the co-operative effect of the two plates is to provide a pair of tracks along which a vehicle can roll. When loading is complete, the bridge plates are pivoted about their hinges to a generally vertical, or raised, position, and locked in place so that they cannot fall back down accidentally.
Conventionally, bridge plates at the coupler ends are returned to the raised, or vertical, position before the train can move, to avoid the tendency to become jammed or damaged during travel. That is, as the train travels through a curve, the bridge plates would tend to break off if left in the spanning position between the coupler ends of two rail road cars. Since bridge plates carry multi-ton loads, they tend to have significant structure and weight. Consequently, the requirement to raise and lower the bridge plates into position is a time consuming manual task contributing to the relatively long time required for loading and unloading. Raising and lowering bridge plates may tend to expose rail-yard personnel to both accidents and repetitive strain injuries caused by lifting.
It would be advantageous to have (a) a bridge plate that can be moved to a storage, or stowed, position, with less lifting; (b) a bridge plate system that does not require the bridge plate to be moved by hand as often, such as by permitting the bridge plate to remain in place during train operation, rather than having to be lowered every time the train is loaded and unloaded, and raised again before the train can move.
Further, a rail road car may sometimes be an internal car, with its bridge plates extended to neighbouring cars, and at other times the rail road car may be an xe2x80x9cendxe2x80x9d car at which the unit train is either (a) split for loading and unloading, (b) coupled to the locomotive; or (c) coupled to another type of rail road car. In each case, the bridge plate at the split does not need to be in an extended xe2x80x9cdrive-overxe2x80x9d position, and should be in a stowed position. Therefore it is advantageous to have a rail car with bridge plates that can remain in position during operation as an internal car in a unit train, and that can also be stowed as necessary when the car is placed in an end or split position.
Loading and unloading of highway trailers, or other vehicles in the manner described above, can also be a relatively tedious and time consuming chore, particularly as the number of railroad cars in the string increases. Persons engaged in such activity may, after some time, perhaps late at night, tend to become less fastidious in their conduct. They may tend to become overconfident in their abilities, and may tend to try to back the highway trailers on to the rail cars rather more quickly than may be prudent. It has been suggested that speeds in the order of 20 km/h have been attempted. In the past, it has been difficult to form bridge plates that lie roughly flush with the deck. Due to their strength requirement, they tend to be about 2 inches thick or more. As a result there is often a significant bump at the bridge plate. Aggressive loading and unloading of the trailers may cause an undesirable impact at the bump, and loss of control of the load. In that regard, it would be advantageous to reduce the height or severity of the bump. It is also advantageous to employ side sills that have a portion, such as the side sill top chord, that extends above the height of the deck and acts as a curb bounding the trackway, or roadway, defined between the side sills. It is also helpful to have flared sill, or curb, ends that may tend to aid in urging highway trailers toward the center of the trackway along the rail cars.
It is sometimes desirable to keep the load in the highway trailer level, to avoid damage to the lading. Movable ramps tend to be relatively steep compared to road grades and fixed loading platforms. Some hostler trucks are able to raise the front end of the highway trailer while backing up the ramp, in an effort to maintain the trailer in a more nearly level orientation. This facilitates the use of the ramp loading method on a siding with relatively little permanent capital investment in loading facilities, and increasing the attractiveness of TOFC operation. However, when highway trailers are parked on the railcar deck, if the railcar deck adjacent to the trailer is too high, the hostler truck at the receiving end may have difficulty picking up the trailer. It is desirable to keep the deck adjacent to the hitch flush.
As noted above, when highway trailers are circus-loaded on a string of railroad flat car units, the landing gear of each highway trailer is cranked down to bear firmly on the deck of the flat car in the event of a collapsible hitch or kingpin failure. The flat car units are not always located next to a convenient platform, and there is not always a generous amount of space available for loading or unloading crew to work on the deck around the trailers to perform the cranking operation. It is not necessarily prudent to stand on the deck of a flat car while highway trailers are being backed into place. It may also take some time to ascend the deck after the highway trailer has stopped moving, to edge along from the ladder to the landing gear, and then to lower (or raise) the landing gear, and then to descend from the car, particularly in bad weather, such as freezing rain.
It would be advantageous to have a ladder abreast of the position of the landing gear, (that is, at a location corresponding to the longitudinal location of the landing gear). Therefore, it would be advantageous to have foot supports, and corresponding handholds, mounted to the body of the railcar abreast of the collapsible hitch and landing gear area to facilitate loading and unloading of the highway trailers.
It would also be advantageous to mount running boards longitudinally inboard of the hitch centerline, abreast of the landing gear position, i.e., the location of the landing gear feet of the highway trailers. It may be advantageous to mount the running boards slightly below the level of the main deck, as this may tend to allow a person operating the landing gear crank not to have to bend over as far.
It has been noted that the feet of collapsible hitches, such as are mounted to rail cars used in TOFC trailer operation, sometimes extend into the path of the trailer wheels, and may tend to damage the highway trailer truck tires. It would be advantageous to have a collapsible hitch, such as can be mounted above a center sill, that has a narrower footprint to stay clear of the tires.
Demand for transport by TOFC or by container may fluctuate over time. Therefore, it would be advantageous to be able to convert a rail road car from one type of service to the other. To that end it would be advantageous to have a rail road car that has structure for either service, and that permits subsequent conversion as may be desired according to market conditions.
Reference is made herein to shipping containers and various sizes of highway trailers. Shipping containers come in International Standards Association (ISO) sizes, or domestic sizes. The ISO containers are 8xe2x80x2-0xe2x80x3 wide, 8xe2x80x2-6xe2x80x3 high, and come in a 20xe2x80x2-0xe2x80x3 length weighing up to 52,900 lbs., or a 40xe2x80x2-0xe2x80x3 length weighing up to 67,200 lbs., fully loaded. Domestic containers are 8xe2x80x2-6xe2x80x3 wide and 9xe2x80x2-6xe2x80x3 high. Their standard lengths are 45xe2x80x2, 48xe2x80x2, and 53xe2x80x2. All domestic containers have a maximum fully loaded weight of 67,200 lbs. Some common sizes of highway trailers are, the 28xe2x80x2 pup trailer weighing up to 40,000 lbs., and the 45xe2x80x2 to 53xe2x80x2 trailer weighing up to 65,000 lbs. for a two axle trailer and up to 90,000 lbs. for a three axle trailer.
In an aspect of the invention, there is a rail road car for carrying wheeled vehicles. The rail road car includes a rail car body having a first end, a second end, and a vehicle deck running between the first and second ends. The first end of the rail car body has a releasable coupler mounted thereto. Curbs extend along the deck to define a roadway therebetween along which wheeled vehicles can be conducted between the first and second ends. At least one bridge plate is mounted to the rail car body adjacent to the first end of the deck. The bridge plate is mounted to yaw relative to the rail car body when the rail road car is travelling. At least one of the curbs is flared laterally outward adjacent to the bridge plate to accommodate yawing of the bridge plate when the rail road car is in motion.
In another feature of that aspect of the invention, the body includes first and second side sills. Each of the curbs is defined by a respective portion of the first and second side sills. That portion extends to a height greater than the deck relative to top of rail, and is located to border the deck. In a further additional feature, the side sills have end portions adjacent the first end of the body, and the ends of the side sills broaden out adjacent to the first end of the body. In still another feature, the side sills have end portions adjacent the first end of the body, and the end portions are chamfered outwardly adjacent to the first end of the body. In another additional feature, the curbs are flared laterally outwardly at both ends of the body. In a still further feature, the body includes side sills extending along either side of the deck between the first and second ends, Each of the side sills has a top chord member, and at least a portion of each of the curbs is defined by a respective one of the top chord members.
In another aspect of the invention, there is a rail road car for carrying wheeled vehicles. It comprises a rail road car body supported for rolling motion in a longitudinal direction on rail car trucks. The body has a first end, a second end, and an end-loadable deck extending between the first and second ends of the body. The body has curbs mounted thereto. The curbs extend along the deck to define a roadway therebetween along which wheeled vehicles can be conducted. A hitch for engaging highway trailer king pins is mounted to the deck between the curbs. The hitch is movable to a lowered position to allow the running gear of highway trailers to pass thereover, and to a raised position for engaging a king pin of a highway trailer. The highway trailers have a minimum allowable outside tire width, WTO(min), and a minimum allowable inside tire clearance width, WTI(min). The curbs having parallel portions spaced apart a road width distance, WD, and the hitch has a width WH at least as small as the value W obtained in the equation:
W=WTO(min)+WTI(min)xe2x88x92WD.
In another feature of that aspect of the invention, WH is less than or equal to 37xc2xd inches. In still another feature, WD is 104 inches. In a further feature, the car body includes a center sill extending between the first and second ends thereof. The center sill has a top flange forming a portion of the deck. The hitch is mounted to the top flange. The top flange is at least as wide as the hitch. In still another feature, the decking includes deck plates mounted to either side of the center sill. In a further feature, the deck plates are mounted flush with the top flange of the center sill.
In another aspect of the invention, there is an articulated, vehicle-carrying rail road car comprising a first rail road car unit and a second rail road car unit, the first and second rail road car units being supported by rail car trucks for travel in a longitudinal rolling direction, and being joined together at an articulated connector. The first rail car unit has a first deck along which wheeled vehicles can be conducted. The second rail car unit has a second deck along which vehicles can be conducted, the second deck being separated longitudinally at the articulated connector. A set of bridge plates extends between the first and second decks to permit wheeled vehicles to be conducted between the first and second decks. At least a portion of the bridge plates being mounted flush with the first deck.
In another feature of that aspect of the invention, the first deck has a first articulated connector end facing toward the articulated connector, and the bridge plate has a second portion overlapping the first deck. In another feature of the invention, the first deck has a first articulated connector end facing the articulated connector. The second deck has a second articulated connector end facing the articulated connector. A support member extends from the second articulated connector end at a level below the second deck, and the first portion of the bridge plate bears upon the support member.
In a further feature, the second deck has a second articulated connector end facing the articulated connector. A support member extends from the second articulated connector end at a level below the second deck. The first portion of the bridge plate bears upon the support member. In a still further feature, the bridge plate is maintained in place relative to the second deck by a retainer, the retainer permitting the bridge plate to be lifted relative to the second deck. In another feature, the retainer includes at least one hook member. The second deck has a fitting engaged by the hook.
In yet another feature, the first deck has a wear plate mounted thereto. The overlapping portion of the bridge plate is located to bear upon the wear plate. The overlapping portion of the bridge plate can slide across the wear plate during curving motion of the rail road car during travel. In an additional feature, the wear plate is a stainless steel wear plate. In a still further feature, the second deck has a hitch mounted thereto for engaging highway trailers, and, in the longitudinal direction, the hitch is mounted within ten feet of the bridge plate. In yet another feature, the first portion of the bridge plate has traction enhancement members mounted thereon. In still another feature, the second rail car body has side bearing arms extending therefrom next to the articulated connector. The bridge plate is mounted over one of the side bearing arms.
In a further aspect of the invention, there is a rail road car comprising a rail road car body supported by rail cars trucks for rolling operation in a longitudinal direction. The body has a first end, a second end, and a center sill extending between the first and second ends. The center sill is supported by the trucks. The rail road car having a pair of side sills spaced to either side of the center sill and a set of cross-bearers extending between the center sill and the side sills. A deck is mounted between the side sills and above the cross-bearers, the deck permitting the loading of vehicles thereupon. The rail road car has first and second pairs of laterally extending beams mounted to the center sill. The first pair of laterally extending beams and the second pair of laterally extending beams are mounted below the deck and are longitudinally spaced a distance corresponding to a 40 foot container pedestal separation distance. The first and second pairs of beams are capable of supporting a fully laden 40 foot ISO shipping container.
In a further feature of that aspect of the invention, the laterally extending beams are mounted to support the deck. In another feature, at least a portion of the deck over each of the pairs of laterally extending beams is removable to permit a container support pedestal to be mounted to each of the beams. In yet another feature, each of the laterally extending beams has a first portion proximate to the center sill, and a second portion distant from the center sill. The first portion has a greater depth of section than the second portion. In a further feature, the rail road car has side sheets depending from the side sills. At least one of the pairs of beams has distal portions extending beyond the side sheets. In a further additional feature, the distal portions having jacking fittings by which an end of the rail car body can be lifted.
In further aspect of the invention, there is a rail road car having a rail car body including an end-loading deck for wheeled vehicles. The rail car body being supported by rail car trucks for rolling in a longitudinal direction. A set of container support beams is mounted to the body beneath the deck. At least a portion of the deck being removable to permit container support pedestals to be mounted to the container support beams.
In an additional feature of that aspect of the invention, the support beams support portions of the deck. In a further feature, at least a pair of the container support beams have laterally outboard portions, and jacking fittings mounted thereto by which an end of the rail road car can be lifted.